42 Club News
OBFC After a disrupted past two seasons, the Football Club is hoping to manage to complete the 2021-22 season in its entirety. The Club has had a good start to the season so far, we are on the hunt for silverware and have strong momentum behind us. We encourage former pupils to get in touch as there are many opportunities to play for the Club, particularly in goal! We also welcome
supporters on a Saturday afternoon to fortress Burbage Road to help our players to victory. Please reach out to chairmanaobfc@gmail.com for more information on playing for or visiting the Club. Max Waters (Cribb’s 2008) & Sam Eade (Spurgeon’s 2008)
Tennis
T
he tennis section is slowly returning to our usual activities after the lockdowns and restrictions of the past 18 months. In June we were able to re-instate our adult Club sessions, but we decided to leave reintroducing our other organised club activities to later in the year. Our Junior Section is also back up and running. The Junior Section is large enough to use all three courts from 3-7pm Monday to Friday and 4-6pm on Saturday. In July and August our coaching team once again used the School facilities to run a series of successful junior tennis camps. Our big news is that the courts at Burbage Road are being resurfaced. It has been around 15 years since they were last resurfaced, so they certainly needed some attention. As well as the resurfacing work, the floodlights are to be upgraded to LED which are more energy efficient. The photos show work in progress, with the central floodlight pillars removed and initial work to provide drainage completed. Root damage, caused by trees being planted too close to the courts is being repaired and the courts are being levelled. The grass area to the side of the courts is being removed and new drainage included in this area. The weather has been good, so the team from the contractors, Trevor May, are speedily working to finish the work before winter sets in. While the work on the courts is being undertaken, the School has very kindly offered us the use of the courts at
Townley Road. We are therefore still able to run our usual club sessions on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings. On our return to Burbage Road, we plan to reinstate the club activities we organised prior to the Covid outbreak and lockdowns. So, as well as Club sessions, we aim to provide Spanish drills, doubles and singles tactics sessions, video analysis, American tournaments, a singles and doubles ladder and club tournament. Our coach is also planning demonstration days and a number of Sunday tennis festivals throughout the year. Junior tennis will continue throughout the year. With all our planned activities we expect the courts to be really busy once they are resurfaced but we will try not to wear them out too quickly! Liz Livingstone
The 200 Club
F
or 50 years the 200 Club has been and remains the EAC’s principal fund raiser, raising much needed funds for the running of the Clubhouse and grounds at Burbage Road. More recently it has been used to provide financial support to Year 13 leavers who wish to take a Gap year and undertake voluntary work overseas. Since its inception it has collected in £635k and paid out just over half in prize money. Membership is only £5 per month or £60 per year and enters you in the monthly prize draw to win four prizes of £120, £100, £70 & £60 with an annual star prize of £2,000 drawn and announced at the EAC Annual Dinner. If you are interested in going on the waiting list, please contact Chris Heayberd ciheayberd@sky.com Many thanks to those who are currently members and welcome to those of you who are considering becoming members.
